Rek,
When you sent an earlier question to me a few days ago I got the impression that you are in the State of Georgia. If I have guessed wrong, the answer for you today will still work because each state must follow the IDEA.
The key words for answering you today are “general education curriculum.”
Those three words appear in the Georgia special education regulations as well as every other state’s special education regulations.
IEP & Progress in the General Education Curriculum
There are two laws that talk about standards and achievement.
The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB)
Note: Georgia, I believe, has a waiver for NCLB. However, if it does, the demand for high standards and achievement are still expected by the U.S. Department of Education.
The NCLB statement of purpose says:
"The purpose of this title is to ensure that all children have a fair, equal, and significant opportunity to obtain a high-quality education and reach, at a minimum, proficiency on challenging state academic achievement standards and state academic assesssments. (emphasis added) This purpose can be accomplished by ... meeting the educational needs of low-achieving children ... [including] children with disabilities." 20 U.S.C. § 6301
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)
The Congressional statement of purpose for the IDEA is:
Statement of Purpose, 20 USC 1400 (c)(5)(A)
(5) Almost 30 years of research and experience has demonstrated that the education of children with disabilities can be made more effective by—
(A) having high expectations for such children and ensuring their access to the general education curriculum in the regular classroom, to the maximum extent possible, in order to— [Emphasis added]
(i) meet developmental goals and, to the maximum extent possible, the challenging expectations that have been established for all children; and [Emphasis added]
(ii) be prepared to lead productive and independent adult lives, to the maximum extent possible; [Emphasis added]
The IDEA says the IEP must be based on "the child's present levels of academic achievement and functional performance." The IEP must include "a
statement of measurable annual goals, including academic and functional goals, designed to meet the child's needs that result from the child's disability to enable the child to be involved in and make progress in the general education curriculum ..." [Emphasis added]
Also, the IDEA tells us a child's IEP must include "a statement of any individual appropriate accommodations that are necessary to measure the academic achievement and functional performance of the child on State and districtwide assessments ..." 20 U.S.C. 1414(d) [Emphasis added]
Georgia: 160-4-7-.O1 PURPOSE FOR EXCEPTIONAL STUDENTS RULES
(1) PURPOSE. These rules are designed to :
(a) Ensure that all eligible children with disabilities have available to them a free appropriate public education (FAPE) that emphasizes special education and related services designed to meet their unique needs and prepare them for further education, employment and independent living; [34 C.F.R. § 300.1 (a)] [Emphasis added]
(b) Ensure that the rights of children with disabilities and their parents are protected ; [34 C .F .R . § 300.1 (b)]
(c) Assist educational agencies to provide for the education of all children with
disabilities ; and [34 C.F.R. § 300 .1 (c)]
(d) Assess and ensure the effectiveness of efforts to educate children with disabilities. [34 C.F.R. § 300.1 (d)] [Emphasis added]
What is suffiecient progress?
You can compare your child’s academic achievement assessment scores with your state’s academic standards. The academic standards will be listed by grade and by subject.
Go to your state’s Department of Education website and look for a link to academic standards or grade level expectations or curriculum frameworks. Every state has them.
In Georgia, where I think you live, these are the links to the math standards -
https://www.georgiastandards.org/sta...-Standards.pdf
https://www.georgiastandards.org/Sta...Standards.aspx
Look for the standards for the grade your child is in now. In your situation you will look at the math standards. Some states call the math standard by other names. But for whatever name the state uses for the math standards, you will recognize that section by the subject matter described in the standard.
You could make a bar chart showing the state standard for the grade your child is in and your child’s current academic achievement level from the school’s assessments. You do get a report showing how your child scored on the schoolwide assessments, don’t you?
Proof of sufficient progress, I suppose, would be achievement scores that show an increase in achievement levels over time. The IDEA does not guarantee academic stardom. It only provides for giving a disabled student an educational benefit. Sad, but true.
But if your child’s math achievement scores are not getting better, or minimal or erratic progress, then you can argue that he is not making sufficient progress under his current IEP.
You also asked,
“So if someone attains close to the criteria then it is considered making sufficient progress?”
Well you did say your son repeatedly fails math. Compare his failing grades with the state standard for math. I’d be willing to bet a dollar to a hole in a donut that what you find will not support the school’s claim that your son is making adequate progress.
You said this matters because your advocate keeps saying you need documentation to make a case for ESY for math during school year.
Your advocate is right. How else will you prove your son needs ESY for math during the school year? Or for that matter, during the summer months?
And you said the county claims it is providing appropriate support. Well, what does appropriate mean? The most general definition of appropriate is something that is fit for the purpose. Are the supports the county is providing fit for the purpose (helping your son make annual progress with his annual IEP goals)? Probably not.
You are facing a struggle for convincing your school district to change your son’s IEP such that his IEP is appropriate and provides him with a free appropriate public education. A struggle does not mean impossible.
To do it you should consider having a strong, experienced advocate or attorney help you document the right things to prove his current IEP (as well as his previous IEPs) is not appropriate and must be changed.
Thank you for your questions. I hope these answers help.
Brice Palmer
Bookmarks